Biology subjects

Roy, J.

Publications and source records attributed to Roy, J..

6 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2018

Functional composition rather than species richness drive carbon gain and allocation in experimental grasslands

Numerous experiments have shown positive diversity effects on plant productivity, but little is known about related processes of carbon gain and allocation. We investigated these processes in a controlled environment (Montpellier European Ecotron) applying a continuous 13CO2 label for three weeks to 12 soil-vegetation monoliths originating from a grassland biodiversity experiment (Jena Experiment) and representing two diversity levels (4 and 16 sown species). Plant species richness did not affect community- and species-level 13C abundances neither in total biomass nor in non-structural carbohydrates (NSC). Community-level 13C excess tended to be higher in the 16-species than in the 4-species mixtures. Community-level 13C excess was positively related to canopy leaf nitrogen (N), i.e. leaf N per unit soil surface. At the species level shoot 13C abundances varied among plant functional groups and were larger in legumes and tall herbs than in grasses and small herbs and correlated positively with traits as leaf N concentrations, stomatal conductance and shoot height. The 13C abundances in NSC were larger in transport sugars (sucrose, raffinose-family oligosaccharides) than in free glucose, fructose and compounds of the storage pool (starch) suggesting that newly assimilated carbon is to a small portion allocated to storage. Our results emphasize that the functional composition of communities is key in explaining carbon assimilation in grasslands.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2018

Discovering novel calcineurin inhibitors through quantitative mapping of protein-peptide affinity landscapes

Transient, regulated binding of globular protein domains to Short Linear Motifs (SLiMs) in disordered regions of other proteins drives cellular signaling. Mapping the energy landscapes of these interactions is essential for deciphering and therapeutically perturbing signaling networks, but is challenging due to their weak affinities. We present a powerful technology, MRBLE-pep, that simultaneously quantifies protein binding to a library of peptides directly synthesized on beads containing unique spectral codes. Using computational modeling and MRBLE-pep, we systematically probe binding of calcineurin (CN), a conserved protein phosphatase essential for the immune response and target of immunosuppressants, to the PxIxIT SLiM. We establish that flanking residues and post- translational modifications critically contribute to PxIxIT-CN affinity, and discover CN-inhibitory peptides with unprecedented affinity and therapeutic potential. The quantitative measurements provided by this approach will improve computational modeling efforts, elucidate a broad range of weak protein-SLiM interactions, and revolutionize our understanding of signaling networks.

bioengineering↗

bioRxiv2018

Evidence for subsoil specialization in arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi

Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungal communities are now known to vary with depth in arable land. Here we use two previously published high-throughput Illumina sequencing data sets, and compare a 52 year long chronosequence of recultivated agriculture fields after a topsoil and subsoil mixing event, with a set of undisturbed topsoil and subsoil samples from a similar field. We show that AM taxa identified as subsoil indicators are exclusively present in early stages of the chronosequence, whereas topsoil indicator taxa can be found across the chronosequence, and that similarities from the chronosequence fields to the subsoil communities decrease with time. Our results provide evidence on the ecological specialization of certain AM fungal taxa to deep soil layers.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2017

Subsoil arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal communities in arable soil differ from those in topsoil

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi are recognized as important drivers of plant health and productivity in agriculture but very often existing knowledge is limited to the topsoil. With growing interest in the role of subsoil in sustainable agriculture, we used high-throughput Illumina sequencing on a set of samples encompassing drilosphere, rhizosphere and bulk soil, in both top- and subsoil. Our results show subsoil AMF communities harbor unique Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs) and that both soil depths differ in community structure both at the OTU and family level. Our results emphasize the distinctness of subsoil AMF communities and the potential role of subsoil as a biodiversity reservoir.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2017

Neuronal rhythms orchestrate cell assembles to distinguish perceptual categories

Categories are reflected in the spiking activity of neurons. However, how neurons form ensembles for categories is unclear. To address this, we simultaneously recorded spiking and local field potential (LFP) activity in the lateral prefrontal cortex (lPFC) of monkeys performing a delayed match to category task with two independent category sets (Animals: Cats vs Dogs; Cars: Sports Cars vs Sedans). We found stimulus and category information in alpha and beta band oscillations. Different category distinctions engaged different frequencies. There was greater spike field coherence (SFC) in alpha ([~]8-14 Hz) for Cats and in beta ([~]16-22 Hz) for Dogs. Cars showed similar differences, albeit less pronounced: greater alpha SFC for Sedans and greater beta SFC for Sports Cars. Thus, oscillatory rhythms can help coordinate neurons into different ensembles. Engagement of different frequencies may help differentiate the categories.

animal behavior and cognition↗

bioRxiv2017

Does circadian regulation lead to optimal gas exchange regulation?

Optimal stomatal theory is an evolutionary model proposing that leaves trade-off Carbon (C) for water to maximise C assimilation (A) and minimise transpiration (E), thereby generating a marginal water cost of carbon gain ({lambda}) that remains constant over short temporal scales. The circadian clock is a molecular timer of metabolism that controls A and stomatal conductance (gs), amongst other processes, in a broad array of plant species. Here, we test whether circadian regulation contributes towards achieving optimal stomatal behaviour. We subjected bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) and cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) canopies to fixed, continuous environmental conditions of photosynthetically active radiation, temperature and vapour pressure deficit over 48 hours. We observed a significant and self-sustained circadian oscillation in A and in stomatal conductance (gs) which also led to a circadian oscillation in{lambda} . The lack of constant marginal water cost indicates that circadian regulation does not directly lead to optimal stomatal behaviour. However, the temporal pattern in gas exchange, indicative of either maximizing A or of minimizing E, depending upon time of day, indicates that circadian regulation could contribute towards optimizing stomatal responses. More broadly, our results add to the emerging field of plant circadian ecology and show that molecular controls may partially explain leaf-level patterns observed in the field.

ecology↗